Amputation artificial foot



' P. u. WILLIS. AMPUTATION ARTIFICIAL FOOT- APPLICATIONIFILED APR. 22, 1970- Patented Oct. 19,1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PEARL I-I. WILLIS, MINO'I', NORTH DAKOTA.

I AMPUTATION ARTIFICIAL room.

.. I Specification of Letters Patent. Pat t 0 1 9, 1 g

Application filed April 22, 1920. Serial N0. 375,782.

leg of a crippled person which will fill a" shoe and permit flexing of the shoe to practically the same degree as a natural foot. The invention is of importance and of great utility to those who have, lost portions of their feet in front of the ankle as it enables such persons to' walk without undue rigidity of the ankle joint and permits the shoe to bend quite naturally.

Astill further object of the invention is to producea filler for shoes having novel means for hingedly connecting the same to a leg band,the said connection being partially incased and bound by the shoe upper. a I lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein like characters denote correspond ,ing parts in the several views and .m

which Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the artificial foot.

Fig. 2- is a vertical sectional view of the same.

The artificial foot section is made up of a plurality of members so inter-connected or associated that the body portion will flex while the user is in the act of walking, and to accomplish that result, I provide a base plate 5, the general configuration of the sole of a shoe having an arched portion 6 which constitutes a support for the remaining portion of the foot of the user. The rear portion of the plate 5 is relatively flat, corresponding to theheel of the natural foot.

The toe portion of the artificial foot preferably com rises two superimposed strips of leather}; and 8 tapered toward their outer ends and in plan of such area as to a shoe of desired shape. Just' to the rear of the toe sections, there is a series of super-imposed layers of material preferably leather strips, or solid aluminum 9,

10, 11, 12, and 13 which maybe increased cor reduced in number according to the height of the structure to be built or the thickness of the material employed. T hese strips of material also taper in width toward their outer ends and are bound together andattached to the plate 5 by fastenings 14 and 15 such as bolts. Thestruce ture formed by the strips 10 ;to 13 inclusive are preferably recessed at their inner ends as shown at 16 to form a seat and clearance for an end of a shank 17 whichshank is preferably of metal and is bent or shaped to the configuration of the instep and ankle of a user. Thelower end of the shank 17 is curved as at 18 and engages a link 19 in the recess 16, the said link being loosely applied to the fastening 15 so that the shank may oscillate with relation to the foot structure. p

A lining or webbing 20 is interposed between the plate 5 and the foot structure and it is attached to the member Sby fastenings 21 such as tacks and is bound between the plate 5 and the foot structure by the'fastening 15 so that the .toe portion of the foot structure may articulate with relation to the plate andfthe other parts of the said struc ture.

.As'afurther means for retainingthe toe portion in place, flexible strips 22 and 23 over-lie the toe portion and the other portion of the foot structure, and these strips of material tend to retain the toe portion in position while at the same time permitting it to oscillate or flex with, relation to the other portion of the foot structure.

The shank 17 is secured to the leg of the user by an elongated band 23 which is adapted to embrace the ankle of the user, the said band being encircled by'a strap 24 applied to a, loop 25 secured to the band so that the strap may be adjusted .by means of a'buckle 26 or other fastening for increasing or diminishing the pressure on the leg of the user. As shown in the drawing, the band hasone edge 27 overlapping the other practically the same movement as the instep joint of a natural foot.

When an artificial toot made in accordance with the foregoing is applied to a user and inserted in an ordinary shoe and the shoe is laced, the action of the artificial toot resembles the action of a natural foot as that portion of the foot section between the vamp of the shoe and the toe thereof, bends quite naturally, due to the fact that the laminated sections ofthe toe and body portions or" the artiicial toot yield in a manna similar to the yielding of a natural toot, and therefore the sole of the shoe and the upper thereof is permitted to yield or flex just as it flexes on the natural foot when the user is in the act of walking. It is preferable that the shank 17 be padded to prevent abrasion or undue pressure on the user, and to that end, some yieldable cushionable material 29, should be inserted under the shank and between the said shank and the band, it being shown that the band at the front is made up of an outer and inner layer of material with the shank interposed.

The inventor does not wish to be limited with respect to the number of layers of material which he may employ above or below the toe section to act as fillers or as connections which will permit flexing ot the toe section and obviously, changes maybe made in the proportions and details of construction without departingtrom the spirit of the invention. a a

I claim 7 a 1. In an artificial foot, a base plate, a series of super-imposed layers of material secured to the said plate and the structure having arecess in its inner end, a link,

loosely held in the said recess, a shank having a curved end hooked 1n the link, a leg-encircling band, .means for connecting layers having cut-away innerends forming a recess, a link held in the said recess, a

.shank a le '-encirclin band carr in the ,r 7 b b Y b said shank, said shank having a hooked lower end engaging the link, a laminated toe section, and means for yielding the holding of the toe section in operative relation to the remainder of the foot structure.

In an artificial foot, a base plate, an inner artificial foot section secured to the plate, a toe section in front of the said inner section, yieldable devices for connecting the toe section to the inner section, a shank hingedly connected to the inner section, and means for holding the shank on the leg of the user. a a

ll It anartificial foot, a plate, an inner artificial foot section secured to the plate, a laminated toe section, means for connecting the toe section and the inner foot section, and means for connecting the sections to a leg of a user.

5. In an artificial foot, a plate, an inner artificial foot section having a recess in its inner end, link held in the said recess, a laminated toe section, flexible members for connecting the toe section to the foot section, a shank having a curved end removable on the link, and means for holding the shank on the leg of a user.

PE RL H. WILLIS. 

